Pokemon: Missing No Error
by CoreyW
Summary: Loosely based on Red/Blue version with a darker twist. What starts as a bizarre error in the Pokemon Storage System becomes something much more sinister. How can a young trainer and a young researcher stand in the way of a threat against reality itself?
1. Prologue

Pokemon: Missing No. Error

Prologue

* * *

Author's Note: Pokemon is property of Nintendo and GameFreaks. This fanfic is based on the games, not the anime (although I do take some inspiration from the manga). It is intended to mostly be a retelling of the story in Red/Blue (with a few elements from the later games coming in as well) with some…significant differences that give it a bit of a darker tone. The prologue doesn't introduce our hero, but it does set up much of the significant supporting cast. I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

_Bill was running as fast as he could as the world dissolved behind him._

_He felt out of breath, barely able to keep running. There was a sharp pain in his side from sprinting for so long, but he did not dare stop. He was not sure how long he had been running or when he started. Every time he tried to remember clearly, he became aware of a jolting pain inside his head. He was not sure if that was simply because of stress of if it was exposure to the wave of… whatever it was behind him. He had not gotten a clear look at it before and frankly he didn't want to chance looking back._

_It was dark as he read down the road, lit only by the crescent moon and the stars in the night sky. Tall trees loomed along each side of the road. Bill saw them in his periphery, but tried to stay focused ahead. He tried to ignore the trees when he thought he saw briefly flash like lightning and flicker away, as if it became a burnt out light bulb. He tried to tell himself he only imagined it. He almost believed it._

_He would have ran until his heart stopped were it not for a rock lying in the round. He tripped over it, flying to the ground with a thud. The wind was knocked out of him and he skinned his elbows and knees on the dirt. He wanted to get up and keep running, but he knew that the fraction of a second it would take to rise would be too late. Terrified, he looked back. He quickly wished that he hadn't._

_Behind him, there was nothing, in the most literal sense. Behind him he saw no road, no trees, no land, no sky, no light nor shadow, no _anything_. The road he had treaded on not moments ago had simply ceased to be, as if the ground Bill was lying on now was all that was left of anything, anywhere. If there was an actual edge to existence, that was what Bill saw now: non-existence itself. Even his brilliant mind could not grasp the true form of it. The closest he could come to rationalizing it, to even describe what he was seeing, was a wave of garbled television static that seemed to stretch on forever, with only vague glimpses of life or matter within its form. It was edging closer towards him. The ground seemed to dissolve into formless static at its touch, leaving only bottomless gap of static wear the earth used to be. Bill glanced up at the sky and saw that it too disappeared within its form. The stars…as impossible and illogical as it seemed, it looked as if they were being sucked into the formless mass. The sky seemed to flash from grey to black as it too was dissolved._

_Bill had never imagined what the end of the world would look like. Now he did not have to._

_His mind screamed at him to turn and keep running. He could not hope to outrun it now, but at least it would prolong the inevitable, but he could not move. He could not even open his mouth to scream. No sound came out. The static edged closer. When he looked into it, he could almost make out bits and pieces of what this thing had engulfed. He thought he could see and endless sea of screaming faces, human and Pokémon alike, when the wave washed over him._

_His mind became hazy. He was not sure how quickly it happened, since his sense of time suddenly seemed disoriented (maybe time itself had already been engulfed in it). He tried to close his eyes, but he could not. His eyelids were no longer there. He had felt a brief fuzziness where they used to be and then they were gone. He was forced to see everything laid out before him. White and black specks filled his vision as he saw himself in a world of static, as if he was in a blizzard that had struck reality itself. He still thought he saw glimpses of the faces in the static (one looked like a little girl which chilled Bill's blood, or at least what was left of it). The only thing that had any clear shape was his own body, and that seemed to be fading fast._

_He felt a horrible tingling sensation in his right arm. He looked down at his pale arm and was horrified to see it began to flicker, like the tree he saw before. His hand became numb. He clenched his fist, trying to hang on to the sensation, trying to hold himself together through will alone. But to no avail. He felt a sting like an electric shock and saw the skin on his hand almost seem to explode into what looked like pixilated mess. For a terrible second, he saw the bones and muscles of his hand underneath, blood floating through the air in droplets like it would in a world of zero gravity, and the specks of dust that had once been his skin blend seamlessly into static. Pain shot through his hand and he screamed. What came out of his mouth was not his own voice, but a metallic screech. Then suddenly, the muscles and bone he was exposed also blended into the nothingness, and the pain was gone. His entire arm simply was not there anymore._

_He felt his short brown hair feel like pins and needles in his skull as each individual hair was plucked out of existence, each hair feeling like another distinct needle in his skull. His clothes lost all color, turning as monochrome as the blizzard he had been swept into, then disappeared entirely. His entire body felt numb now, but he was smart enough now not to look down._

_He tried to scream again, but now there was no sound at all. There was no sound anywhere anymore. He saw the static sweep over his eyes. He felt an odd fuzziness in his head, followed by a blinding pain. He could not see anything anymore, but if he could, he would be seeing red from the sheer pain. In his head, he felt every memory he had drift to the surface. His first day of school, being given Farfetch'd by his mother, writing his thesis, the first time he got beat up in first grade, the day after that when he brought his Farfetch'd to school when the bully was dumb enough to try it again, getting scolded by his mom… all memories long forgotten rushed to the surface. The images burned themselves in his mind, his head throbbing as he was shown each one. And once he saw the image, seared in his mind for one brilliant moment, it disappeared and he could not recall it as much as he tried. His memories were being destroyed, dissolved into nothing. It wasn't enough that his body was going, it was going to reduce every thought he ever had into nothingness._

_He tried his best to hang onto each memory, but the images came more rapidly now, more painfully. He saw him graduating high school at 14, meeting Professor Oak in college at 15, writing his thesis, crying at his mother's funeral, proposing the Pokemon Storage System and meeting with Silph Co. scientists in order to explain the process of converting Pokemon into data for system storage, staying up all night for months coding the first betas on his own, receiving help by supporters both online and local to Kanto, almost having a heart attack when he received a private investment that could make the installation of Pokemon data converstion hardware worldwide a reality, finally opening it for public use, and just recently developing the Pokemon happiness protocol to improve on the system further. _

_The last memory flared up in his mind like a candle before flickering out. And when it did, Bill felt his mind become fuzzy as the body and mind of the person known as Bill simply ceased to be…_

_

* * *

_

Bill woke up in a cold sweat, slumped over his keyboard. He shot up from his chair, nearly knocking it to the floor. He breathed heavily until his waking mind was able to realize what had happened. He looked down at the computer, seeing lines of code for the protocol he had been coding for the Pokemon storage system. He looked around his dark cottage, lit only by his computer monitor. His bed lay neglected in the corner with his Farfetch'd asleep at his bed, its wooden stick clutched between its feathers. He looked under his desk, seeing the tower for his personal workstation. He looked to the left of his desk, which was lined with servers for the Pokemon Storage System, which sat next to a teleporter panel on the floor, used for materializing Pokemon stored in the system. He looked all around the dark cottage before he became secure that the world was not being torn apart.

He slumped back down in his chair, clutching his forehead. "I suppose it was a dream," he said. He stared at the code on his screen and noticed the time displayed in the bottom left hand corner. It was only a few hours until dawn. "I… think coding this late into the night is taking its toll on me."

Farfetch'd stirred and ruffled its feathers as it perked its head up. It blinked sleepily for a moment, then stared at Bill. "Farfetch'd!" it said in an irritated tone.

Bill turned over to him. "Oh sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," he said with a hallow smile. "I suppose I was just… talking to myself. Huh, that's probably not a good sign."

Farfetch'd shook its head, then opened its bill to let out a yawn. It curled back up and tried to go back to sleep. Bill got the feeling Farfetch'd was hoping Bill would take the hint.

"Well…I guess I should maybe get to bed…maybe," said Bill, but even as he said it, he knew he wouldn't actually go to bed. He did not want to go to sleep again anytime soon. Bill usually did not have very vivid dreams, and he nearly forgot almost all of them once he awoke, but this nightmare he had was the most vivid one he'd ever had. His hand shook as he laid it on his desk. He probably wouldn't have been able to get to sleep if he wanted to, as shaken as he was now.

Sighing, he got up from the chair and went to the kitchen. He dug some leftover noodles from god-knows-when out of the fridge and stuck it in the microwave. As he heated it up, he went back to the computer. He looked at the lines of code, which should have been like a second language to him now, but now it looked like Greek. Every time he tried to think back so he could pick up where he left off, his mind drifted back to the dream and Bill had to force himself not to envision it.

He looked down at his blue shirt and kakis, which felt dirty from sleeping in them. His short hair felt oily, as it often did when he woke up in the morning (or to be more accurate, the early afternoon, since most of his nights up till around five in the morning). He looked back at the screen. He remembered that he had been tweeking the Pokemon happiness protocol for the storage system in order to make it more comfortable for the Pokemon in digital storage. He'd been working on it for over a month and he still could not get it to work right. Every time he found a bug and fixed it and ran it through the simulation testing, five more sprung up. He sighed again. Well, he certainly wasn't in the right mindset to work on it now, he thought. He supposed he would just eat and try to find something else to do until dawn. Easier said than done, since Bill did not have many hobbies aside from Pokemon research, programming, and reading. He supposed he could always look into Oak's Pokedex schematics again.

The microwave dinged. Bill decided to just compile the code and test it later. He started compiling the code as he got up to grab the noodles. He got a fork and took a bite, getting disappointed when he felt the noodles crunch in his teeth. _How _old_ is this?_ he thought.

He walked back over to the computer and was surprised to see an error message pop up. Bill raised an eyebrow, put down the noodles, and sat down at the computer. He read the error message, which made no sense to him. He had never seen this error before. The message read: "Script cannot be run. PH Protocol variable cannot be resolved. Missing No. Error."

"'Missing number error?' What is that supposed to be?" said Bill. The error was nonsensical and did not make any sense for a script in that programming language. Bill would know, having paid a large part in designing the language himself. He tried to exit out of the message. It did not go away. He tried to shut down the compiler, but it would not shut down.

"Oh come on!" said Bill. He tried to exit out of the compiler again, with little effect. Bill was ready to simply shut down the workstation altogether when something odd happened. The error message disappeared and showed Bill's code in the compiler in full view. Lines of code were deleted in front of Bill's eyes. Bill grunted. Was his system being hacked into? No, it was impossible. Bill's network was as secure as a fortress. He moved to manually shut down the system.

Then he saw lines of code spring up into the compiler. First one, then another, being written right in front of him. Then suddenly, a wall of text filled the compiler. The text scrolled down, being written faster than Bill's eyes could process. It continued to scroll and write itself rapidly, ending up looking like jibberish to Bill.

Bill leaned back. He felt his hand begin to shake again. "W-what is this?" he said. The text scrolled faster and faster and faster…then the screen locked up. Bill stared for a moment then sighed. He must have simply screwed up coding more than he thought. Probably just accidentally typed some gibberish while he was asleep that messed up the system. It was unusual, but the system locking up was no big deal. It was nothing he couldn't fix. It would be easy enough-

He heard a low humming sound. Bill looked at it. He had no speakers in this machine, so he was not sure where the humming could be coming from. A light flickered in the corner. Bill turned and saw a spark coming from the teleporter panel. He stood up and took a step toward it when a shower of orange sparks came from the panel. Bill put his arm up to shield himself from the sparks.

Farfetch'd jolted awake, brandishing its stick as it craned its head around in confusion.

"Farfetch'd!" yelled Bill as he looked back at the screen. He felt his face become pale when he saw what was on the screen.

The screen had an image almost the shape of a backwards L that was a garbled mess of distorted pixels that looked like status. The screen lit up brighter then normal and, in that same moment, more sparks shot out the teleporter. The sparks hit the floor and embers began to flare up.

Farfetch'd rushed to his side. The fire spread quickly across Bill's hardwood floors. Bill shielded himself from the heat with his arm, but glanced back at the computer screen, which still had the static image on it. Bill swung his arm to the floor, knocking the monitor down and cracking the glass. The image faded into darkness. He took Farfetch'd in his arm and moved towards the door as the fire crept towards if fast. The doorway crackled and collapsed just as he dove through it out into his front yard. He rolled on the ground, hitting a few rocks as he rolled down. Farfetch'd flew through the air, but quickly flapped its wings to land gracefully next to Bill. Bill staggered to his feet and took Farfetch'd in his arms. He hazarded a glance back to see his cottage in flames, hearing the crackling of wood and smelling the smoke as it filled the air. Part of Bill was devastated, but part of him was relieved that he did not see wave of nothingness behind him.

At least not yet. It was not just a dream. This was not just something caused by a small error in code. He was certain of that now. This was real, he realized with horror. That dream, the static image on his PC… was it a sign? Was his dream actually going to happen?

Hundreds of questions raced through Bill's mind. He gave one last look to his burning cottage, looked down at Farfetch'd who only looked sad and confused, then turned and ran as fast as he could. He was not even sure where he was going, he just knew he had to get far away. He had to warn someone. He had to do something.

The only coherent thought that kept running through his mind was that one certain, horrible feeling he had: it was not just a dream. _It was not just a dream!_

* * *

The room was dark when the girl entered. It was illuminated only by a dim light hanging overhead. She saw a desk with a small wooden chair in front. On the desk was a lamp which was not turned on and a small laptop. A big, red armchair was behind the desk. She could only see the silhouette of the man sitting in the chair in the darkness. She thinks the boss has the room dark like this all the time just for that reason. It keeps everyone who talks to him on their toes, not that they wouldn't be already if they spoke to him in person.

The boss raised a cigar to his lips and inhaled, making the flame at the end glow bright red. Smoke rose up. He spoke in a low voice. She had only heard the boss speak in a deep, quiet voice. Anyone who saw him raise his voice typically did not live long enough to see him raise it again.

"What do you have for me, Leaf?" he said.

Leaf twisted the end of her long brown hair, which hung down the shoulders of her black uniform. She cleared her throat. She always got nervous when speaking to the boss (but then again, who didn't?).

"We were almost able to enter into the Storage System, but there was an… irregularity."

The boss did not say anything. He simply took another long inhale of his cigar, awaiting an explanation.

"W-when we bypassed the firewall, there was some unusual activity in the code. It seemed to be…changing after we entered. We assumed the programmer had simply noticed our prescience and was trying to encrypt the code or something…"

"'Or something?'" said a different voice. A younger, colder voice coming from the dark corner of the room. Leaf looked over in the corner and noticed the boy leaning against the wall in the shadows with his arm folded over his chest. She glared at him. She should have guessed he would around somewhere, lurking in the shadows. Even in the darkness, she could make out his long fiery red hair. "Either you know or you don't."

"I said it was an irregularity already, didn't I?" snapped Leaf. "We tried to see if we could decrypt it but before we could, the whole network seemed to… go offline."

"Impossible," said the boy. "The Pokemon Storage System has servers worldwide. The network cannot just go 'offline' without it making the news."

"I know, I'm just telling you what we saw. If you have a better idea, Silver, I would like to hear-"  
"That's enough," said the boss flatly. He puffed from his cigar. The small flame illuminated his ridged face for a moment. His cold eyes shifted over towards Silver. Silver saw the look, then turned his head away with a grunt. His eyes moved over to Leaf, who froze up.

The boss blew out some smoke. "Keep some of the grunts on it, Leaf. I appreciate the report," he said. "But make sure they get to the bottom of this. The Pokemon Storage System belongs to us. I don't make a habit of investing in projects that don't yield results. Failure is not an option." He leaned in. "I trust you'll make sure your team is aware of that."

Leaf gave a nervous laugh. "O- of course, sir," she said.

"In any event, once you deliver that message, you are free to go." He flicked some ashes in the ashtray which lay on the desk. "When I require your services, I shall call for you. Soon."

"Right sir," said Leaf as she stood up and gave a military salute. She heard Silver snicker in the corner, obviously finding the gesture quite amusing. She shot him a glare and he only gave a smug smile back. She turned to leave.

"Oh, and one more thing," said the boss. Leaf looked back. "And this goes for you too, Silver." Silver's smile disappeared as he looked over at the boss. "I trust you will know better than to start your petty bickering in my prescience in the future." His voice raised ever so slightly, just enough to let them know he was serious. "We must stand united if were intend to conquer. We will need that unity if we are to stand against Lance. I will not tolerate infighting." He gave a hard look to both of them. "Am I clear?"

Silver gave an irritated look then, seeing the look in the boss's eyes, he nodded.

The boss turned towards Leaf. "And you?"

"Yes, Giovanni," said Leaf. She looked down at the black uniform she wore, which had a red R stitched on it, as a reminder of who she served.

She turned and exited, glad she no longer had to speak to the boss. She would deliver the message to the tech team then enjoy her time off. Sometimes she wondered why she got herself into this, then she remembered she never had a choice.

As weary as she was of this, she could not shake an odd feeling she had. Something about the code they saw earlier didn't make sense, something about it gave her a chill as if something big was about to happen. Bigger than Team Rocket, bigger than the Elite Four, even bigger than Lance.

She shook it off, telling herself it was nothing, then headed to meet with the tech team.


	2. Chapter 1: Red Vs Blue

Pokemon: Missing No. Error

Chapter One: Red Vs. Blue

* * *

It was supposed to be the first day of Red's journey, his first steps toward becoming an adult, toward becoming a Pokemon trainer; instead he was sitting on a couch next to the biggest jerk in Pallet Town, putting ice on a black eye while he was being scolded at by his rival's older sister. _It sure seemed like things were off to an amazing start, _he thought bitterly.

Daisy looked down at Red with stern disappointment, similar to how his mother looked at him whenever he did anything wrong. Red wondered if all older women just had instinctual knowledge of how to give a look that strikes fear into the hearts of men. Daisy was a nice girl most of the time, but when Red and Blue got in their arguments, she would take the role of parent upon herself. Simply because all three had known each other their whole lives and Daisy just happened to be the oldest, she said she felt responsible for both of them or something. Red just thought part of her liked scolding them.

Her glare pierced from under her black bangs. She brushed her long hair out the way. "So, do you want to explain to me what happened, Red?"

Red looked down, trying very hard to hide under his red hat. Blue snickered. He looked over, seeing Blue cover up his grin. He had a bruise on the side of his jaw, which Red felt a sense of personal pride for creating. His short light brown hair just barely touched the neck of his black sports jacket, which he wore in an attempt to look cool. Just seeing the smug smile he was trying to hide made Red glare at him. _Who wouldn't want to punch him?_ thought Red.

Daisy cleared her throat, and Red's head snapped back towards her. He scratched the back of his neck and gave a nervous laugh. Daisy obviously did not find it amusing. Red simply sighed.

"He… started it," said Red weakly.

Blue snickered, then openly burst out laughing. "All that stalling and that's what you came up with?" said Blue.

Red said nothing. He knew that just starting the fight again would draw more ire from Daisy. She was already angry enough at them when she saw them fighting just outside of town, while some of the smaller kids watched. Assuming she had not called his mom already, she would if Red started up again, and he could kiss the Pokemon League goodbye.

Daisy shot Blue an even more frightening look. Blue did not drop his grin, but he did turn away slightly as if he did not want to face her. "Oh, laugh it up, Blue Oak. Do you want grandfather to hear about this?"

Blue's grin dropped. It seemed he was as worried about being held back from his Pokémon journey as Red was. It was Red's turn to smile now.

"Come on, Daze, don't tell granddad. We're supposed to be picking up our Pokemon for our journey today."

Daisy rolled her eyes. "You two think just because you've turned ten and got your Pokemon license, you can do whatever you want. But its not all fun and games."

"Great, another lecture," muttered Blue. Red looked over at Blue and, for the first moment since the fight, they seemed to hold some miniscule sympathy for each other having to suffer through this tongue lashing.

"I'm serious," said Daisy. "It's dangerous out there. Being a Pokemon trainer doesn't just mean you can do whatever you want. It means you aspire to do something great, that you have enough knowledge of the world to pass the Pokemon exam."

"Which Red cheated on…" whispered Blue just low enough so he knew only Red would hear him. Red shot him a dirty look.

_No seriously, who WOULDN'T want to punch him? _thought Red.

"But most of all," continued Daisy, "it means you're mature enough to last in the world, mature enough to care for your Pokemon. If you two aren't even mature enough to go a day without fighting, I doubt you're mature enough for any Pokemon to listen to you. You'd get eaten alive. The Gym Leaders will laugh you out of the league."

"I'm plenty mature," said Blue, in a tone indicating he'd heard this kind of talk far too many times before. He put his hand to the bruise on his face, wincing so slightly when he touched it. "And I didn't start anything. I just told Red I was going to get my Pokemon first today, and he just got a total Weedle up his a-"

"Oh, you liar!" spoke up Red. "I told you I didn't care and you called ME a liar. And then you-"

"Stop!" said Daisy. "I don't care who started it!" She brushed her long black hair back again and sighed. "I should just call the Professor right now-"

Blue and Red got a look of horror on their faces. They had hoped she was just making idle threats before, but now she seemed serious.

"Don't!" asked Red.

Blue put his hands together. "Please Sis, there's no need for that! You were saying just the other day you were proud of me for passing the test."

"My exact words were I didn't _believe_ you passed the test. And I don't," she said dryly. She sighed again. "You both think you're mature enough to compete in the League."

"Absolutely!" said Red standing up from the couch, trying to look like an young, endearing hero. The fact he was still holding a bag of ice against his black eye disrupted the illusion a bit.

"Of course," said Blue folding his arms smiling.

"Prove it then," said Daisy. She pointed at them. "Both of you apologize for fighting and shake hands. Just like how adults solve their differences."

Red and Blue blinked at her.

"You _can't_ be serious," said Red.

"What are we, kindergarteners?" yelled Blue.

She folded her arms and glared at them. It was obvious she was not budging from this position. Red and Blue looked at each other. Red gave a disgusted look, as if he had just swallowed something rotten. Blue just frown, then shrugged. Red nodded. They were both late enough as it was, and it was better they just get it over with. Blue closed his eyes, then stuck his hand out.

"Put it there…pal," said Blue. Each word came out short and forced, as if Blue was exerting a great amount of physical will to say them without sarcasm.

Following his lead, Red gave a weary glance at Daisy again. She tilted her head toward Blue. Red tried not to sigh, closed his eyes, then put a huge smile on his face. He meant for it to look as genuinely happy as he could manage; instead it made him look like a psychotic man-child from a slasher movie.

"Sure…buddy," said Red. They shook hands. Each of them kept smiling, even while they both made a conscious effort to crush the others hand in the handshake.

"Loser," said Blue in a whisper.

"Prick," replied Red from behind clenched teeth.

They broke the hand shake, then looked at Daisy.

"There. Now was that so hard?" said Daisy, smiling sweetly. Red had a difficult time trying not to associate women smiling sweetly as a sign of pure evil. She turned to Red. "Now Red, you can go to Grandfather's lab."

Red smiled, then put down the pack of ice. "Thank you, Daisy!" He ran towards the door. Blue started to get up from the couch.

"Not you, Blue," said Daisy.

"What?!" he said. "Why?"

"I don't want to risk you two finding another reason to fight in Grandfather's lab. I'm sure he wouldn't want you damaging thousand dollar equipment. Besides, I'm not done talking to you yet."

Blue's jaw dropped. "Oh, come on!" he said.

"You can wait ten minutes. Honestly, why is it a big deal who goes first?"

Red stopped at the door. Before exiting the house, he turned back around and grinned at Blue. Blue only narrowed his eyes at him as Red left the house. He was sure the next time he'd see Blue there would be a fight, but it didn't matter. He ran as fast as he could to Professor Oak's laboratory, eager to pick out a Pokemon of his own and to begin his journey, the journey he had dream about since he had first heard of the Pokemon League.

* * *

After a long morning of traveling, Bill had finally limped his way into the city limits of Cerulean City. Farfetch'd followed behind him, holding its leek stick. Normally it would probably be acting feisty or impatient, but now it walked in silence, as they had the entire morning after they had escaped the burning cottage. Bill couldn't blame him; after all, it had been their home for years, and now it was gone forever.

The worst part is that Bill still did not fully understand what had happened. All he had was the sight of the Pokemon Storage System's code rewriting itself, that static he saw on his PC, and that nightmare. None of it made any sense. Bill wanted to believe it was simply that someone had hacked into his system, even though he was confident in his networks security, but there was more to it than that. No matter how good a hacker thinks they are, no hacker can cause a teleporter to explode like that. Something was being done to the hardware, not just the software. Someone… or something had more power with Bill's system, his hardware, than he could possibly comprehend. And, despite the insanity of it, Bill doubted it was human. It all came back to that dream… what was it? Why had he dreamt that? He was hardly a psychic like Sabrina or her entourage, so why would he have a dream like that?

Bill put his hand to his head. His head was throbbing and each step he took felt like it was leeching the life out of him. He looked down at Farfetch'd, which cocked its head to the side looking up at him with a look of concern and sincerity it usually only showed when it wanted an extra serving of berries from Billy. Bill gave it a weak smile, then continued walking at a snail's pace towards the Pokemon Center.

The automatic doors of the center opened in front of him as he shambled through. A red haired nurse in white clothing sat behind the counter. She had a small smile plastered on her face.

"Welcome to the Pokemon Center! We restore your-" The nurse stopped in mid-sentence as Bill approached the counter. She looked him up and down and gasped. "Oh dear! Are you okay?!"

Bill looked down. His clothing was burnt and there were several small visible holes. Bill hadn't looked in a mirror since leaving the house, but he was sure his skin was slightly burnt as well.

"I'm alright," said Bill, trying not to seem too exhausted. He looked down at Farfetch'd and gestured for him to come up. Farfetch'd took the leak in its beak, then leapt up onto the counter. The nurse flinched as Farfetch'd fluttered its wings as it landed. "I was wondering if you could heal my Farfetch'd for me."

"O-of course," said the nurse. She still looked concerned, but did not say anything.

"Also, I was wondering if you had a phone I could use."

"Yes. Well, we have a video phone over there, but it has not been working right the past several days. Nobodies tried it today though, so you could try it." She pointed over to the right of the center, where Bill saw a small chair in front of a corded phone attached to a small video monitor. Then she gestured over to the left towards the computer. "Our PC is working fine though, so you could send an email if you like."

Bill grimaced and looked over towards the PC at a desk in the corner. There was one like it nearly at every Pokemon Center and, thanks to Bill, almost every one of them had a small teleporter panel next to the monitor. This one was no exception. It was smaller than the one Bill had at home, but the technology behind it was still the same. His memory flashed to moment sparks shot out of his teleporter, followed by the horrible static on his video screen…

"No, I'll just try the phone," said Bill hastily. "Thank you."

The nurse nodded, then took Farfetch'd to the back. Bill walked over to the video phone and sat down at the rickety office chair in front of it. He looked at the small camera lense atop the video monitor, adjusted the chair so he was sitting in its view, then picked up the receiver.

While Bill may not have had any clue exactly what had happened, he knew that even if his hypothesis was wrong, the code of the Pokemon Storage System had definitely rewritten itself on its own and that could not mean anything good. Even if Bill's computer had not burst into flames, he knew he would need some help on this one, especially if the situation did prove to be as dire as he feared. However, the good thing about creating an electronic storage system for Pokemon which nearly everyone in the country used was that you had connections. Pokemon researchers and computer programmers from all over the world had helped him create the Pokemon Storage system and he had a good relationship with many of them. He had even met many high profile trainers who helped promote the system when it was first released a few years ago. Luckily, he had an old mentor who did not live to far away from Cerulean City.

Bill dialed Professor Oak's phone number. Bill had had the privilege of being his student during college. He had always looked up to Professor Oak and was ecstatic when he contributed to the Pokemon Storage System. If anyone could help Bill now, he could.

He put the receiver to his ear. The video monitor remained dim. The phone rang twice, then Bill heard three quiet beeps, followed by a recording saying, "We're sorry, but your call could not be completed as-"

Bill hung up the phone. It did not come as much of a surprise; after all, the nurse said the phone was probably still out of order. It appeared he would have to find somewhere else to use the phone. He figured the Pokemart would probably have a phone he could use. He stood up from the chair when the video phone rang. The monitor lit up with black text on a white background reading "RINGING" in all capital letters.

Bill felt his stomach knot up, but he told himself it may have been the Professor. Perhaps the call had gone through after all. Hesitantly, he sat back down and picked up the phone. "Um… hello?" he said into the receiver. No answer. "Hello." Still no answer. "Hello!"

There was another second of silent, followed by a screetching sound blaring through the phone. It was so loud Bill jerk the phone away from his ear. The sound seemed very similar to the sound a phone makes when it calls a fax machine or when an old telephone modem dials out. Bill looked at it, terrified. He tried to tell himself that it was simply just someone trying to fax the phone, it was just a coincidence.

That was until he saw the video screen. The word "RINGING" faded away. The screen flickered for a moment, then showed someone's face onscreen. It was Bill, holding the phone. Bill stared at it astonished for a moment, before his eyes moved to the small camera on the video phone. The word "RINGING" flashed on screen again atop Bill's face, then disappeared. Bill dropped the phone. It dangled from the cord and banged against the wall twice before it swung lazily. Bill stared at his picture on the monitor. Finally, the sound from the phone got louder and more text flashed on screen. Bill thought his heart would stop.

The text said "HeLLo BiLL". Bill's picture disappeared and for a moment, white static flashed on the monitor.

Bill picked up the phone and hung up with such force he nearly smashed the receiver. He may have broken the phone. He didn't care. He ran back to the front counter. The nurse walked up and gave him an odd look. She had probably heard the sound from the phone, or maybe Bill nearly breaking the public phone.

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

"Fine, yes. Good," said Bill in a rush. He was sure his face was pale, even by computer programmer standards, and he was sure she heard the shaking in his voice. He did not even attempt to be convincing. "Is my Farfetch'd done?"

"Y-yes, your Pokemon has been restored to perfect health." She gently placed his Farfetch'd on the counter. He seemed well rested and in higher spirits than he had been minutes ago. However, when the Farfetch'd saw Bill's face, it hopped down from the counter. It looked up at Bill and, without having to be told, started towards the door. Bill ran with it.

"Thanks," he said to the nurse as he ran away. The nurse just stared after him as if he were a giant bug or something.

They ran out of the center. Bill wasn't sure what to do now. He had been able to keep himself mostly together (or at least put up the _appearance_ he was together) up until now, but now he was horrified. Something was happening. Whatever he had experienced at his house was not an isolated incident. Whatever was behind it had spread farther than he could imagine. It was even affecting the video phone network, who knows what else it could be affecting? The Pokemon in the Storage System, the medical tech in the Pokemon Centers, the internet, and who knew what else. Maybe his suspicions were right. Or perhaps he was just crazy. Considering how lightheaded and scared Bill felt now, either would have made sense.

Bill tried to take a deep breath. Farfetch'd looked up at him and gently poked him in the shin with its leek stick. He looked down at him. He tried to force a smile to reassure Farfetch'd. It obviously failed, as it only resulted in Farfetch'd uncomfortably shifting the stick between its feathers.

Bill paced back and forth in front of the Pokemon Center nervously, trying to think. He imagined he looked like quite a nutcase, walking back and forth in scortched clothes muttering to himself, but he was so stressed out he could do little about it. He needed help, but now he was not sure if he could trust using a phone. He definitely did not want to risk using a PC, but he had to find some way to reach Professor Oak. The only option he saw was going in person, but Pallet Town was miles away. He had hoped the Professor would have been able to meet him in Cerulean, but now he would need to find some way to get there. His Farfetch'd could fly, but it was far too small to carry Bill anywhere. He needed some way to get there faster. A bus, a car, or a bike, something, anything.

Finally, it hit him. He remember that even though he did not have many close friends who were not Pokemon researchers, there was one person he thought he could ask for help. Unless he planned on going there on foot, going to them was probably the best option. Taking one look back to the Pokemon Center (partially to make sure there was no one looking at him like he was a crazy person and partially to make sure the teleporter in there had not also burst into flames) he walked off. It was only a few blocks from the Center.

It was time to visit an old friend.

* * *

Professor Oak was sitting at his desk putting the last screws into the back of his latest inventions when he heard a knock at the door. The sudden loud knocking caused the screwdriver to slip in his hand and nearly hit the desk. He muttered something. At the moment he was in his lab alone. His granddaughter Daisy, who also worked as his assistant, had taken this Saturday off to see Blue off for his journey to become a Pokemon journey. He got up from his desk, realizing that it was probably Blue at the door now. He had not come in yet to receive his Pokemon, which Oak thought was odd. After all, all he had talked about since passing the Pokemon License exam was starting the journey as soon as he could. He smiled, thinking that boy had far more energy than he knew what to do with. Blue had a lot of potential, but he was also head strong. But he would learn. All trainers (the good ones, anyway) learned fairly quickly that it takes more than cockiness to become a Pokemon trainer.

He heard more knocks as he walked to the door. "Hold on, hold on, I'm coming," he muttered as he swung the door open. His bushy eyebrows raised in surprised. It was not Blue at all, but Red, Blue's friend (well, Oak supposed Red _could_ be called a friend. He wasn't sure what else to call him considering the amount of time they spent together, even if most of it was spent bickering like an old married couple).

"Oh Red, it's you," he said. Red looked at up him, smiling. He noticed the backpack slung across his back, the red cap on his head, and the eager smile on his face. He was hit with a wave of nostalgia. It reminded him of himself when he started on his own journey, all those years ago. He smiled at Red. "Got your Pokemon License, did you?"

"Yes sir!" he said, pumping his fists. "And I heard you give anyone who gets their Pokemon License a Pokemon of their own!"

Oak laughed. "Excited, aren't we?" He glanced again at Red's face then frowned. "You didn't get that black eye running into the tall grass without one, did you?"

"Wha-" said Red, putting a hand to his eye. He winced, then grimaced. "No sir. Not at all, this was… it was nothing!"

Oak gave him a sideways glance, remembering the arguments he would frequently get in with his grandson. "Let me guess. You and Blue had another argument."

"Of course we didn't!" said Red. He paused then, when he saw Oak did not buy it, added "But he started it!"

Oak laughed again. Red and Blue were very similar in many ways, energetic and full of themselves. So since they had so much in common, they naturally spent half the time fighting. He knew his granddaughter would spend a lot of time lecturing them, but Oak just saw it as boys being boys. Looking at those two reminded him of two siblings fighting over a toy. He smiled. "Whatever you say, Red," he said. He waved his hand for Red to come in. Red looked at him for a moment confused, but once he realized he was not in trouble, he gave the old man a smile and walked inside.

Oak gestured for Red to follow him as he led him to the back of his lab, by his computer. Along the walls of his lab he had shelves filled with Pokeballs. In each of them was a Pokemon, a treasured companion from his youth as a Pokemon trainer. Even with the shelves filled as they were, it was only a fraction of the Pokemon he had caught as a child. He remembered jokingly telling his brightest pupil, Bill, that part of the reason he supported the Pokemon Storage System was so he would no longer have to fill his entire lab with Pokemon. It was a joke, but there was still some element of truth to it.

In the center of the lab was a glass cylinder with three Pokeballs resting on a steel pedestal. Each of those Pokeballs contained three Pokemon he bread just for young adults starting their Pokemon journey. Most of the time, kids passing the Pokemon League test were simply expected to catch their first Pokemon on their own or have one purchase by their parents, but since Oak had a menagerie of Pokemon, he felt some pride in helping children in Pallet. He walked over to the cylinder and pressed a button on the base of the cylinder to raise the glass. He stood off to the side.

"Red, inside each of those Pokeballs is a Pokemon." He held up three fingers. "A Squirtle, a Bulbasaur, and a Charmander. Of course, I'm sure you know about each of those Pokemon from studying for the Pokemon License test."

"What? Oh! Right!" Red scratched the back of his head, smiling nervously. "Of course I do!"

Oak looked down at him and was silent. "… you have no clue what they are, do you?"

Red eyes sloped down, as if he had become very interested in something on the floor.

Oak smiled. "Don't worry." Oak reached for a Pokeball on the cylinder. "If you want to know the truth, I did terribly on the exam when I was your age. In fact, I had to take it three times."

"Really?"

"Of course. I wasn't always a Professor, after all. It was just…well, something I grew into on my journey." He smiled at him. "You'll see… now catch!"

Red looked up at Oak threw the Pokeball over to Red. Red reached up to catch it, but missed. His fingers just touched it as it landed on the floor. The ball fell open and a burst of white light emerged from the Pokeball. The white light formed into a cute orange lizard. At the end of its orange tail was a small flame. Red looked at it with his mouth open.

"Whoa. Is that…Charmander?"

"Yep," said Oak. "This one is one of my personal favorites. Probably because the first one I ever used was one just like it. Raised it until it evolved into a Charizard." He smiled, thinking back to the first time he saw his Charmander emerge from a Pokeball to fight. It was the beginning of a friendship that would last for his entire journey. "In fact," added Oak, "this Charmander is bred from that same Charizard."

"Wow," said Red. The Charmander looked up at Red and smiled. He sat down next to it. He put his hand close to the flame on its tail, then pulled it back. "It's really on fire." The Charmander cocked his head and gave him a sleepy look, as if it understood Red's habit of overstating the obvious.

Oak laughed. "I think it would be a good match for you." Red stared at the fire at the end of Charmander's tail. "Of course, if you want a different one-"

"No!" said Red as he stood up. "No, this is perfect!" He looked in the Charmander's eyes. He raised his fist in front of the Charmander, who responded with a head nod. "It reminds me of myself. It's like it has a… burning spirit!"

Oak smiled. He stopped himself from laughing. Most eager children were instantly attracted to Charmanders, himself included. He wasn't quite sure exactly why. He tried writing an essay focusing around a complex explanation that children were naturally attracted to a Pokemon which was cute but eventually grew into a strong creature overtime, seeing it as an allegory for a father figure… of course, then he realized he was probably overcomplicating it when he remembered why he chose a Charmander at age 10 many years ago: having a lizard that had part of its body on fire all of the time was just plain _awesome_. It was simple, but then again, Oak couldn't argue with that.

"I'm sure you'll treat it well, Red," said Oak. "You remind me a lot of how I was, as a child. Just remember... treat your Pokemon with love and you'll forge a bond that can never be broken as long as you live. It will follow you to the ends of the earth and back as long as you remember that."

Red looked down at the Charmander and smiled. He looked up at Oak. "Thanks for the advice, Professor!" he said. He picked the open Pokeball up to the floor. He pointed it at Charmander overdramatically, as if he thought he was an action hero. "Return, Charmander!" A beam of light shot from the Pokeball and enveloped Charmander. The light shot back into the ball and Charmander was gone, now converted into data protected inside a ball that was nearly indestructible from the outside. He tapped the Pokeball, which shrank to the size of a marble, then attached it to his belt. "Thank you Professor. I swear, I will become the greatest Pokemon trainer of all time and bring glory to the town of Pallet!"

_Why is it always the excitable ones that just have to give a speech once they get a Pokemon? _thought Oak._ Oh well…at least it seems like that Charmander will be in good hands._

Oak walked over to his desk, moved the screwdriver out of the way, and picked up the invention he had been working on when Red came in. It looked similar to a red PDA, but it was far more than that. He held it out to Red. "Also, consider this a gift from me. I just finished the latest model."

"What it is?"

"I call it a Pokedex. It's an encyclopedia of Pokemon. All you have to do is point it at a Pokemon you see and it will tell you all the information you'd need to know about it. I've been working on it for quite a while with many other Pokemon researchers around the world. This is just a prototype, but I think it'll serve you way."

"Cool! Thank you, Professor Oak!" said Red. He looked over to the door. "Well, I suppose I should be going now. What's the nearest Pokemon gym?"

"The nearest?" said Oak. He considered the question for a moment. "Well… that would be in Viridian City, but-"

"Great! Thanks for the help Professor!" Red put his hand to his belt, making sure his Pokeball was still there, stuffed the Pokedex in his pocket, then ran towards the door. "I'll be sure to come visit!"

"Wait, Red!" yelled Oak, but Red was already out of the door. Oak frowned. Such a headstrong boy. He wanted to say that even though that gym was the closest, that Gym Leader was by far the strongest. He had never seen the current leader of Viridian Gym, but he had heard some rumors of strange goings-on in that place, mostly revolving around how the Gym would be mysteriously closed for long periods of time. But when it was open, very few ever defeated him. In fact, Oak never recalled anyone on the net saying they had ever beaten the current leader, whoever he was.

He was worried. Red, like Blue, had a lot of potential. In many ways, he reminded Oak of himself as a lad. He sighed. Just like Oak had to, Red would have to learn how to overcome his stubbornness on his own. He was a good kid, so Oak was sure he'd do alright…provided he was smart enough to realize he should skip Viridian and just head for Pewter Gym first.

Oak sat down and continued working on another Pokedex. It was not long after Red left when he heard three quick, successive knocks before he heard the door swing open. Oak got up. He recognized the knock instantly and looked toward the door to see his grandson Blue.

"Oh Blue," said Oak from across the lab.

"Hi Gramps," said Blue as he walked into the lab. He looked around quickly. "Is he still here?"

"What, you mean Red?" said Oak. "I'm afraid he left with his Charmander just before you got here."

A look of disappointment crossed Blue's face. He had a feeling Blue wanted to catch up with his rival as soon as possible. He was probably even hoping for a Pokemon battle as soon as they both got their Pokemon. His grandson always did have a competitive nature to him. Red had that too, although Blue seemed to be more thoughtful about it, but he also seemed to take things a bit more seriously than most and tended to get quite full of himself at times. Blue reminded Oak more of how he was as a teenager than how he was as a child, possessing that same young energy along with some newfound cleverness thanks to experience, but also possessing a sense that he knew everything there was to know about the world.

Blue looked down at the floor, irritated at missing his rival for a moment, then looked up. He looked as if a lightbulb had just been lit over his head.

"Soooo, he chose a Charmander, huh?" said Blue. Oak could see the wheels turning in his grandson's head already. He gave a sly smile, just behind it Oak felt the same sense of energy and anticipation he saw in Red earlier. "Well, I suppose that he and I will have some catching up to do…"

"After I pick my first Pokemon of course."

* * *

The gym was dark, nearly empty at this time in the morning. The only light came from a few small lights around the large pool at the center. The water was calm and still as Bill walked in through the back door. He had been invited to come into the gym before, but he never did. He was always too caught up his work. He walked across the cold concrete floor, looking towards the pool. He could see no one in it. Farfetch'd followed close at his heels.

"Hello? Is anyone here?!" yelled Bill. He looked around frantically. If she wasn't here, he would have exhausted most of his options. He was sixteen, but had no license, so he couldn't get a car unless he took it. If this didn't work, his only option would be to walk on foot all the Pewter, through Viridian Forest and all. Who knew how long that would take? Hell, for all Bill knew, every teleporter in every Pokemon Center might have imploded by the time he managed to get anywhere near Pallet Town.

"Hello!" he shouted out again. He began to get worried when he heard a splashed. He looked over to the side of the pool. He saw a figure climb out of the water. After taking a second glance at the pool, it seemed to run a lot deeper than he thought. Bill supposed it made sense, considering the type of Pokemon trained in Cerulean Gym.

She was in a blue wetsuit. Her red hair was soaking wet from swimming. She climbed over the edge of the pool, seemingly ignoring the ladder on the far side of the pool. Once out of the pool, she stood up. Water dripped from her hair and suit onto the concrete. She brushed her wet hair out of her way, revealing her blue eyes. She was slightly shorter than Bill, not unusual since she was three years younger than him. She was one of the youngest Gym Leaders in the entire Pokemon League and one of the best masters of water-type Pokemon in the entire Kanto region. She rubbed water out of her eyes, then took a deep breath. Bill figured she must have been underwater for a while.

"Okay…" said Misty. "Just _what do you think you're doing_?!"

Bill flinched back. "What?" he stammered.

"This is a registered Gym for the Pokemon League! You cannot just go barging in her and yelling as if you own the place. I should-" She stepped closer, then stopped. She rubbed her eyes again, then spoke in a softer voice. "Bill? Is that you?"

"Um… yeah. It's me," said Bill, relaxing. Farfetch'd, who had had his leek stick brought up in self defense, now lowered it. Bill knew he probably should have expected that kind of welcome, but for some reason he hadn't. He was probably too stressed to consider that. Misty was a good friend, one Bill had known for a long time, but she had a bit of an… abrasive personality around strangers.

Misty looked at him for a moment, then folded her arms. "So, what are you doing here?" she asked. "Thinking you still have to babysit me?"

"No, not at all," said Bill. "Actually this is very serious. You're the only friend I have around here that I can trust with all this."

"And that's just _sad_."

Bill sighed and looked at her. Misty looked over and saw the serious look in his eyes. Her arms lowered from the crossed position.

"You're…you're really serious, aren't you?" said Misty. "What's this about?"

"Misty... I think there might be something big going on. I'm not sure what, but something is going wrong with electronic devices around Cerulean City. Maybe even around the whole country."

"What makes you think that?"

"It's…it's just a feeling. I can't really explain it. I started to get it right before my house blew up."

"Wait, _what_?!"

"Nevermind that!" said Bill. "I need to get to Professor Oak as soon as possible! He's the only one who might be able to help!"

"What do you expect me to do about it?" said Misty. "Why don't you just call him?"

"I can't. I tried that already, but the phone at the Pokemon Center just started talking to me."

Misty stared at Bill for a moment then moved a step back. "Are you…sure you don't need to lie down or something?"

"Listen, this is really weird. And I'm…fairly certain I'm not crazy," said Bill with a little more conviction than he genuinely felt. "Just trust me when I say using the phone is probably not a good idea for this. I figure if I can get to Pallet Town as quick as possible and talk to Oak, we might be able to make sense of this."

"Alright…lets assume for a minute that you're not crazy," said Misty. "What do you want me to do about it? Unless Professor Oak happens to live on a deserted island, I doubt my Pokemon are going to help you get anywhere quick."

"I don't want your Pokemon," said Bill, "and I don't want you to get anywhere near a phone. But, there is one thing you can do for me."

"Well, what is it?"

"I need to borrow your bike."

"What?!"

"You have a bike right! It'll be a lot faster than walking on foot. It's not a car, but it's the best I can do right now."

"You seriously came all this way to borrow a _girl's_ bike?"

"Modesty is the least of my concerns right now," said Bill. "Can I borrow it or not? I promise to bring it back."

Misty grimaced for a moment, then sighed. "Fine. Just make sure you bring it back."

"Of course I will," said Bill.

"I mean it," she said.

Misty led Bill away from the pool so she could loan her bike to him. She figured everything would be alright as long as he gave it back soon.

Misty would never see that bike again. Shortly after Bill left the city with that bike, she would learn that Bill was not crazy at all and he was not just making it all up.

She would wish he had been.


End file.
